Haliburton County showing its age

By

-

May 12, 2022

The average Highlander is more than 10 years older than the average Ontarian, according to recently-released 2021 Census data.

Compared with the provincial average of 41.8, the average Haliburton County resident is 52.8 years old.

Statistics Canada data released April 27 shows the Highlands’ older age groups

are growing, with 35.2 per cent of the population, or 7,250 people, over 65. In 2016, 32.9 per cent of the population, 5,940 people, were 64 or older.

Some age groups didn’t see much of a bump.

There were 1,720 kids aged 0 to 14 years in 2016, and 1,915 in 2021. Other key demographics in the Highlands’ workforce shrunk, when compared to overall population numbers.

For example, there were 675, 20-24 year- olds in 2016 and 680 in 2021, a 0.7 per cent increase. Haliburton County’s total population has increased 13.9 percent since 2016.

People observing sectors of Haliburton’s economy say the data reveals what life in the County may look like in coming decades and highlights issues already at the forefront of public planning.

HHHS plans for aging residents

Haliburton Highlands Health Services CAO Carolyn Plummer said her team is planning for the future with the County’s population and age distribution in mind.

“We’ve been looking at both of those statistics as we look towards the future,” she said. She points to HHHS home care services and its long-term care homes as “critical” to an older population that’s expected to grow. She said the services will complete planning exercises to figure out how HHHS might need to evolve to handle a growing population.

“Community consultation will be part of that.”

She added that many Highlanders have come to rely on HHHS emergency rooms for primary care. Local family doctor waitlists can exceed 1,000 people. Part of the planning process, Plummer said, will be considering “are there different service models we can consider recognizing the resources are definitely not unlimited?”

She said staffing shortages present a more immediate challenge than demographics or population growth. She added finding housing seems to be a primary barrier to young healthcare workers coming to the area.

Finding a place to live

Alexander Dacunha wanted to leave Hamilton behind. The 25-year-old part- time paramedic wanted to be closer to the outdoor areas where he leads outdoor education trips.

“I came up here to look for a better quality of life and cheaper rent,” he said. But he couldn’t find a place to live for months, now renting a room in a retired couple’s home with his partner.

“There needs to be some sort of incentive to rent long-term. It’s completely saturated by Airbnbs,” Dacunha said.

The County of Haliburton is beginning to recognize the challenge and is looking into regulating things such as Airbnbs.

Dachunha said it seems Haliburton’s housing market is monopolized by an older generation who often live in under-utilized homes or rent them out to vacationers. According to the Census data, 77 per cent of single-detached houses in Haliburton County are occupied by fewer than three people, compared to 50 per cent of single- detached homes in Ontario.

He’s frustrated by the resistance to developments in places such as Haliburton village, which he said are often sparked by landowners.

“It is just preventing change in the community,” he said.

Workforce challenges

Haliburton Highlands Chamber of Commerce executive director Bob Gaudette said he suspects the Census data may not capture all the new faces to the Highlands.

“We know a lot of people moved up here during the pandemic,” said Gaudette, mentioning how work-from-home employment makes moving to Haliburton County from urban areas more viable.

Based on the Statistics Canada data, he said “it looks very much like we’re a retirement community — there’s a lot of truth to that.”

He said the Highlands’ expanding leisure economy paired with a hot real estate market could drive up the percentage of younger families moving to the area.

“This is one direction it could go. If we stay on the track of property values increasing and more investment … that aging population might be pushed out to an area that’s more affordable to live in.”

However, he said the labour shortages widely reported across the Highlands have been holding chamber-connected businesses

back from expanding or fulfilling the sky- high demand for construction services. “There’s this resource that is finite,” Gaudette said. “That’s the amount of locally available labour.”

At an April 28 Haliburton Highlands Secondary School (HHSS) job fair, Home Hardware district manager Glen Rickerby said it’s been “extremely tough” to hire seasonal and full-time staff since 2020, with both County locations seeking to fill a combined 40 positions. He received approximately 300 resumes in 2019 and 40 in 2020, and said they’ll likely be understaffed this summer.

It’s likely the labour shortage won’t disappear anytime soon. Some of the issue is generational: the Baby Boomers are exiting the workforce across the country.

“Never before has the number of people nearing retirement been so high,” stated Statistics Canada in an April 27 website post.

The percentage of the County likely to be in the workforce (aged 15-64) has shrunk to 55.4 per cent, from 57.6 per cent in 2016. According to the Workforce Development Board, retail, accommodation and food services are the biggest employers in Haliburton.

The number of people in the County’s workforce who are most likely to seek those roles, such as jobs at camps, restaurants or lodges, hasn’t grown at the same rate as the population as a whole.

Fewer high schoolers

Indeed, at HHSS, the population has declined.

“In all schools across Ontario and at Haliburton Highlands Secondary School, there are empty classrooms,” said long-time HHSS principal and current board trustee Gary Brohman. According to Trillium Lakelands District School Board data, there were 589 kids enrolled at HHSS in 2011. In 2021, there were 450.

Brohman said he suspects it’s access to good paying jobs that might prevent young families from moving to the area, or bolstering high school numbers. “The jobs are the jobs, but there are only so many building jobs, hydro jobs, and social services jobs. I would say the school system gives you a good indication of the economic parallel between people coming here to work and retirement people coming.”

Green Party’s Regina the ‘musician politician’

By

Lisa Gervais

-

May 12, 2022

0

A familiar face in Haliburton County is running for the Green Party of Ontario in the June 2 provincial election.

Tom Regina has lived in the Highlands for more than 30 years. Many would know him from teaching music and being the head of arts at Haliburton Highlands Secondary School. He’s also a founding member of two community choirs, a local music festival for students, and the Highlands Summer Festival.

“I guess I’m the musician politician,” Regina said during a recent interview.

Now retired, Regina said he was always interested in politics, especially at election time. And he was a Liberal Party supporter for more than 40 years. However, he said he felt abandoned by the party when the federal Liberals dropped electoral reform, an issue near and dear to his heart.

“I looked around and I thought ‘where do I really exist?’ and I can see that the Green Party policies are built on environmentalism and equity and respect in a way that I don’t see in all of the other parties so that really made me feel like ‘yeah, that’s something that I want to do a bit more’.”

With time on his hands, he contemplated volunteering, thinking he could put up some election signs or go door-knocking with a candidate. Then the local Greens formed a constituency association. He joined the executive and they started looking for candidates. He said the small group started looking at each other as potential runners.

Regina said he saw the appeal of running a local candidate. Opting for university students with some link to the area, as has been done in the past, he found lacked “gravitas.” So, he said, “fine, put my name in, let’s go and see what happens.”

He said he has some goals.

“If I’m going to put my name down and put signs up and knock on doors, I’m going to look at the possibility that I could be the MPP so it’s not fair to not think that for the electorate,” he said.

Regina added he’d like to see the association grow in size, attract more young people, increase donors and get a higher percentage of the popular vote than any other Green candidate in the riding before – “that would be enormous.”

As for the Green Party of Ontario platform that focuses on jobs, people and planet, he said, “without an environment, and without taking care of the planet, there’s nothing else. There’s no business, there’s no food, there’s nothing for us on a burnt planet. It is very much at the heart of all the planning and all the policies.”

But it isn’t the only thing. Going door-to-door, he said, “people are really concerned about affordability, housing, what’s happening with health care, and about being able to feel secure. Those things have to be dealt with. If you’re going to be in government and you’re going to govern you have to deal with a lot of different things. You can’t be a single policy party and get anywhere.”

He added that for him, government through consensus is key.

“You need to walk away from a decision in which everyone might not get exactly what they wanted but can live with. We don’t have enough of that.”

NDP focusing on core values: Doyle

By

Lisa Gervais

-

May 12, 2022

0

FEDERAL ELECTION Barbara Doyle -NDP-web — Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock NDP candidate Barbara Doyle. Photo submitted.

Barbara Doyle hopes to build on the NDP success of the 2018 provincial election, when the party captured 26.5 per cent of the vote, finishing second locally to the Progressive Conservatives.

“I’m in it to win it,” Doyle said. “I absolutely would like to unseat our incumbent Laurie Scott.”

The director of the Old Gaol Museum in Lindsay added she thinks it’s time for a change in the riding, which has been historically Conservative “with no real measurable changes in improvement and services other than basic normal budgetary issues that go across the board.”

Doyle said the area is changing and growing “and we need to grow with it but we also need to take care of the people who are already here and have been living here for years and not being taken care of in the way they should be.”

She said her goal is to reflect voter viewpoints about the changes and the need for core stability around issues such as housing, health care, educations and day-to-day affordability. She panned the Progressive Conservative budget, saying there is not a lot of support in those sectors. She keys on housing and the high cost of living as major local issues.

The Highlander asked about the province’s role in housing, offering an example of how the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) is holding up an affordable housing development along Hwy. 35 in Minden.

“It’s interesting to me that large developers can get MTOs’ push-through really quickly … why are we giving preference to big dollar developers rather than for supportive housing that property would provide for?

She said Bill Switzer was generous in donating the land to Places for People and now it’s just sitting awaiting MTO approval when “we need shovels in the ground right now and infrastructure right now. We have 1,700 new units needed in Haliburton County with housing waitlists of seven to 10 years. That is unacceptable.”

She said the provincial government has to work with municipalities to create supportive housing but has to take the profit out. She added there needs to be action on housing affordability, such as help to make larger down payments for first-time home buyers, rent assistance and rent controls.

Asked by The Highlander about the province funding an expansion of the privately-owned Extendicare Haliburton, Doyle – who co-founded the Kawartha Lakes Health Care Coalition – said although more long-term care beds are needed, “I definitely don’t support for-profit long-term care beds. We have to take the profit out of health care. We have to make sure that nobody is, at the end of the year, worried more about their dividend share than our loves ones.”

The NDP are proposing to phase-out private long-term care facilities within eight years, and provide more and better paid full-time staff. They also want to provide proper supports so more people can age at home. That means more full-time PSWs with a $5 an hour wage increase. They’re looking at caregiver credits, and relieving burdens on municipalities so they don’t tax people out of houses.

Other NDP platform items include an immediate 20 per cent increase for ODSP and OW clients, gradually increasing minimum wage to $20-an-hour, regulating gas prices, reducing Hydro costs, better public transportation and expanding universal health care.

“We’ve learned that when people are supported in their communities, when they are secure in their housing, in their ability to put food on the table, that they have good jobs, the whole community does better. We want to bring our focus back to those core values.”

Time to register for Ontario Senior Games

By

Lisa Gervais

-

May 12, 2022

0

Haliburton County’s district 11 is looking forward to hosting Ontario Senior Games Association (OSGA) 55+ events this summer.

Spokesperson Mary Johnson said the games are open to men and women who are 55-plus years of age as of Dec. 31, 2022.

Men’s’ and ladies’ walking will kick things off on Wednesday, June 1, starting at 9 a.m. from the Haliburton docks.

The locals will host golf for men and women at Blairhampton Golf Course on Wednesday, June 8. The rain date is Tuesday, June 14. It features a shotgun start from 9 a.m.

Next up will be men’s’ and ladies’ doubles and mixed doubles tennis. This will be held at the Stanhope courts starting at 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 14. The rain date is June 16.

The ever-popular pickleball is set to be played via men’s and ladies’ doubles and mixed doubles at the Stanhope courts, also an 8:30 a.m. start, on Wednesday, June 15. The rain date is June 20.

The deadline to register is May 18. Johnson said the games are about being active and getting involved in the community.

“Do you have the time to have fun in a competitive, non-threatening setting? Are you seeking opportunities to socialize and meet new friends? Do you feel young and energetic?” she said of the OSGA mission.

People can qualify to go on to regional games and Ontario 55+ games. There are 36 districts across the province, with 9,000- plus participants and 500-plus volunteers.

The games were incorporated in 1997 and there are traditionally 18-plus summer events and 10-plus winter events. District 11 comprises Muskoka and Haliburton.

Inquiries: Mary Johnson at 705-754-1884.

Mental health program ‘empowering’

By

Mike Baker

-

May 12, 2022

0

A new program designed to connect people with lived experience of mental health issues, with others that are actively suffering, has been a big hit in Haliburton County.

The Canadian Mental Health Association Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge launched the H.O.P.E. Learning Centre in April, offering a wide variety of recreation and educational courses to local residents that promote recovery, empowerment, possibility and connection.

Shellie Preston has been working on the initiative since the beginning of the year. Based on the organization’s recovery colleges model, Preston said she sees a lot of potential in the venture and called on people from across the Highlands dealing with mental health concerns to reach out, share their experience and get involved.

“This whole thing is about collaboration and communication … We bring people with lived experience together with mental health professionals and those looking for help to build programs and an overall curriculum that caters to everyone’s needs,” Preston said. “Everybody gets their say.”

Around 45 people across the region signed up for H.O.P.E. Learning Centre’s initial intake last month.

“We ran a program on experiencing the power of music, we helped build facilitation skills. We had one, which was quite popular, on challenging isolation and loneliness, another on conquering negative thoughts, being more assertive and self-expression,” Preston said. “They were quite thought-provoking.”

Looking ahead to the summer semester, Preston said there will be courses focusing on art therapy, peer discussion, photography, and sports.

CMHA has struck a partnership with area resident Kelly Outram to run a movement and meditation class outdoors at Rotary Park, something Preston said she’s particularly excited about.

“Being outside, in a positive environment like that can do so much for someone’s mental health. We’ve partnered with Kelly, and we’re looking to collaborate with others from Haliburton County to build on our options and offerings to our community,” she said. “Our hope is to have something for everyone. So, if you’re feeling like you’ve lost connection and are wanting to be involved in something with likeminded people, who are non-judgmental, in an environment where you’re supported and valued, this is for you. We want to empower people and build them up as much as possible.”

Worth noting too, all programs run through H.O.P.E. Learning Centre are free. Participants need only register, which Preston said can be done over the phone or online. There are options for both virtual and in-person participation.

Jack Veitch, community engagement and education manager with the local CMHA branch, said this new venture is a long-term commitment.

“For years we’ve been involved in peersupport delivery and helping people with lived experience share their voice. Now, this is sort of like an evolution. We’re ensuring these people have the opportunity to help others on their same journey of recovery,” Veitch said.

Preston added, the real goal is to have this program running full circle. Start off by getting these courses up and running, have people sign up, join in, learn and then, eventually, be kind of like that next generation who can share their knowledge and lived experiences with other people. Almost like an ongoing, never-ending cycle.”

To learn more, visit cmhahkpr.ca/h-op-e-learning-centre, or email hopelc@ cmhahkpr.ca.

Rising Thymes continuing Minden local food ‘tradition’

By

Sam Gillett

-

May 12, 2022

0

Rising Thymes has replaced Organic Times on Bobcaygeon Road in Minden.

Owner Yuki Renel said she’s keen to “keep the traditions” of the wholefoods shop, while adding new local food and snack options too.

Rising Thymes’ shoppers can expect to find local olives, dozens of bulk food bins, kombucha, fresh sprouts, fairtrade coffee, organic soy sauce and more.

Renel hosted a grand opening May 7. She worked for previous owner Deborah Lyons in 2020. Lyons now operates the Organic Times Emporium in Haliburton, but has helped Renel with the transition as she expands the store’s food offerings.

Also operating Rising Sun Gardens, an organic farm, Renel said she brings a deep appreciation for local produce to the store.

“I couldn’t find the vegetables I used to eat in Japan, so I started to grow my own,” she said.

“I truly believe vegetables from the soil have the best nutritional value and taste.”

Whether sweet potatoes from Kinmount or artichokes from her own garden, Renel said it’s important to know where and how food is grown.

Her partner Sebastian Renel, who has been helping around the store, said much of their produce “comes from local people, from their heart.”

She hopes to bring in more local producers too, perhaps adding fridge space.

“I was hoping to put my vegetables in a store, but it was not easy,” she said. “I didn’t expect to be the one to provide the space to others.”

Renel said she’s gotten support from customers, many of whom have been longtime regulars.

Alongside organic food, the store has become a destination for gluten-free and lactose-free products.

Sebastian said, “we’ve made some very nice connections through this. It’s great, you get the feedback from the community.”

Community celebrates S.G. Nesbitt’s facelift

By

Sam Gillett

-

May 12, 2022

0

With a snip of his scissors, Mayor Brent Devolin officially welcomed the Highlands to the S.G. Nesbitt Memorial Arena.

Devolin, councillors and government representatives were on hand May 7 for the arena’s grand opening, cutting the red ribbon two years after the project was finished.

COVID-19 restrictions kept the arena closed for months. The township decided to hold off on a formal celebration until capacity limits were lifted.

“I didn’t want to do this without all of you here,”

Devolin told the crowd outside the arena.

Devolin thanked the Rotary Club of Minden and others who volunteered to deliver vaccines at the arena before it was open to the public. He also handed out mementos to community members who played key roles in the refurbishment.

“Facilities like this don’t get built without help from a lot of people,” he said.

MP Jamie Schmale said, “there has been a lot of challenges … the community and council and staff had to push through, and they did a fantastic job. I think the whole community can appreciate what this arena does for the present and also for the future.”

MPP Laurie Scott said she was happy to have a chance to celebrate the community hub, adding that the Haliburton County Huskies have been a highlight of its early history.

“When you needed a boost, it was great to have a hockey team and it was great to have a facility to host them,” she said.

Rotarians served hotdogs and hamburgers while staff hosted a free-throw contest, the gym echoed with the sound of pickleball and the Minden Skating Club showcased ice dancing routines.

The Highland Storm hosted a boisterous scrimmage before the Huskies took to the ice with community members.

Eight years for ‘alcohol-fuelled’ killing

By

Mike Baker

-

May 12, 2022

0

Haliburton man Norman Hart has been sentenced to eight years in jail, less time served, after pleading guilty to manslaughter in the 2019 death of housemate Robert James Brown.

Justice Michelle Fuerst delivered her verdict in a Lindsay courtroom May 9. Prior to sentencing, she read a statement of facts outlining the events that occurred at a Highland Street residence on June 17, 2019.

Hart killed Brown after the pair got into an argument over the distribution of a $500 cheque from the Kawartha Lakes Haliburton Housing Corporation. A confrontation at their shared home became physical, with Hart, who was under the influence of alcohol and cocaine, delivering a savage beating to Brown before leaving him to die.

Among the injuries sustained, Fuerst said, were a fractured cheekbone, broken ribs, damaged voice box and numerous contusions consistent with being kicked and stamped. The damage inflicted to Brown’s chest caused his lungs to collapse and led to his eventual death. She said Brown survived for between two and three hours after the attack.

Hart then travelled to a friend’s house where he changed clothes and convinced someone to cash the $500 cheque on his behalf. He then spent several hours drinking in a local park before returning home at around midnight. It wasn’t until several hours later that Hart phoned the police to report the incident.

“This was a mean, brutal beating on an unarmed man … Mr. Hart’s behaviour in leaving Mr. Brown to die alone, and then dead in the hallway for several more hours was cruel and callous,” Fuerst stated.

“Mr. Hart has a history of committing criminal offences, including assaults, after consuming alcohol … Mr. Hart was on notice that alcohol and drugs fuel his antisocial behaviour, yet he continued to use them, with tragic consequences for Mr. Brown.” Fuerst said Hart did an 18-month probation about a month before killing Brown.

“He was assessed as a high-risk to reoffend, and he did reoffend in the most egregious way,” Fuerst said.

She listed several mitigating factors that factored into the sentencing. That Hart pleaded guilty to manslaughter, saving approximately four weeks of court time, was considered, so too were comments Hart made at a previous sentencing hearing expressing remorse for his actions and apologizing to Brown’s family.

Fuerst also acknowledged the “harsher than normal” conditions Hart has been exposed to while in pre-trial custody. Due to staffing shortages and COVID-19 protocols at Lindsay’s Centre East Correctional Centre, Hart spent approximately 210 days in full lockdown, meaning no access to the yard, phones or showers. Given the nature of his holding conditions, Fuerst granted greater weight to time served. While Hart had been incarcerated for 1,056 days as of May 9, Fuerst said she was treating it as 1,584 days. As such, there are three years and seven months remaining on Hart’s sentence.

The judge encouraged Hart to seek out an extensive alcohol rehabilitation program while behind bars. While Hart has spoken of his desire to become sober, Fuerst noted he has been found in possession of homemade alcohol in his cell on one occasion while incarcerated.

“Unless [substance abuse] treatment is undertaken and successfully completed, Mr. Hart will remain a danger to the public … It is clear there is no quick fix to Mr. Hart’s issues. He must understand that he has a long journey ahead of him to achieve and maintain sobriety,” Fuerst said.

“He must understand that this is a last opportunity to change his lifestyle for the better, as he said he wants to do. And he must understand that, should he fail and relapse into violent criminal activity, it is very likely he will find himself the subject of a dangerous offender application with the prospect of spending every day of the rest of his life in jail,” she added.

Three new candidates join provincial election race

By

Lisa Gervais

-

May 12, 2022

0

The list of candidates for the June 2 provincial election in Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock has grown to nine.

Since the May 5 Highlander, three other candidates have let their intentions known.

They include Gene Balfour of the Ontario Libertarian Party, Fred Fischer of the Consensus Ontario Party and Ben Prentice of the New Blue Party of Ontario.

They join previously named Progressive Conservative Laurie Scott, Liberal Don McBey, NDP Barbara Doyle, Green Tom Regina, Ontario Party Kerstin Kelly and None of the Above Grant Dewar.

As of press time, no all-candidates debates were scheduled for Haliburton County. However, the contenders will square off in Lindsay May 17. The Lindsay Advocate is hosting a debate at Cambridge Street United Church between 6:30-8 p.m. In addition, Peterboroug-hbased television station, YourTV Peterborough is hosting a debate May 18 to be aired from 7-9 p.m.

The Haliburton Highlands Chamber of Commerce is currently distributing a survey asking members what five questions they should be putting to candidates. The survey was scheduled to close at noon May 10.

Rotaract members keyed up over housing ‘tragedy’

By

Sam Gillett

-

May 12, 2022

0

Places for People vice president Fay Martin said Haliburton’s lack of housing is an “economic tragedy in the making.”

“If people don’t have a place to live, they can’t participate in the work world, and if business don’t have people working in it, they can’t survive.”

Martin addressed a virtual forum hosted by the Haliburton Rotaract Club, “Fighting for Haliburton County housing.”

Martin said that common wisdom in Canada is viewing home ownership “as the very best way to increase your wealth.”

She said since housing is viewed as an asset rather than necessity, younger Canadians can have difficulty entering the market. Statistics Canada reported nearly a third of Canadian houses in many markets are owned by investors.

Rotaract member Emily Stonehouse, who also helps run the Haliburton Tourism Action Committee and works with tourism providers through Yours Outdoors, said housing is a “number one issue” when it comes to businesses hiring new staff.

Martin pointed to Western Canada tourism hubs such as Banff, Alberta or Whistler, B.C. where staff housing is common.

“Why would we think we shouldn’t have to have staff housing, why isn’t that a cost of doing business?” Martin asked.

She also described ways of navigating higher house prices and lack of rentals, such as finding roommates or house-sharing.

She also described how “NIMBYism” (stands for not in my backyard) can often create challenging conditions in which to build affordable developments.

“Except now it’s BANANA,” Martin said. “Build absolutely nothing anywhere near anything.”

Martin said fixing the rising prices and providing more rental options “will take enormous political will,” but urged Rotaract members to engage with their local representatives.

“How do you eat an elephant?” she asked. “One spoonful at a time.”